Toyota Financial Services Reaffirms Its On-Going Commitment to Addressing Nationwide High School Dropout Rates with a $500,000 Donation to 35 Boys & Girls Clubs

March 25, 2014

TORRANCE, Calif., (March 25, 2014) – Toyota Financial Services (TFS) pledges $500,000 to 35 Boys & Girls Clubs as part of its on-going commitment to addressing the national high school dropout rate. Boys & Girls Clubs encourage high school graduation and college readiness by helping youth develop the academic, behavioral and social skills needed to be successful. According to a recent survey conducted at local Clubs, 97% of Club teens expect to graduate from high school, and 28% of Club Alumni said they would have dropped out without the Club’s influence.

Denise Aranda, a 12^th grader at Carson High School in Carson, California, experienced the traumatic loss of both of her parents at a young age. In 11^th grade, she joined the Boys & Girls Clubs of Carson in search of a positive environment with caring adults to provide her with the support she needed. After joining the Club, things improved in her life. Now a senior, Denise is looking forward to graduating high school and a great future.

“After all the deaths in my family, I felt like there was nothing to live for,” said Denise. “Because of the great people, friends, and family the Boys & Girls Clubs have provided, I stand here today grateful and hopeful for the future.”

“Making a difference in just one member’s life is critical to the success of our youth and our nation’s future,” said Mike Groff, President and CEO of TFS and National Trustee for the Boys & Girls Club of America (BGCA). “Toyota is committed to combating the national dropout crisis by supporting BGCA’s academic success programs, and also focused on making a difference at a local level with over 200 TFS volunteers serving as mentors at local Boys & Girls Clubs.”

In collaboration with The Darden Restaurants, Inc. Foundation Toyota currently supports the academic success of thousands of Boys & Girls Clubs teens through a college-readiness program called Diplomas to Degrees (d2D). The additional $500K donation will help Clubs supplement their current programs, offer support for Club operations, and increase their capacity to serve more youth.

The 35 Boys & Girls Clubs will benefit from the donation, which is an increase from last year’s donation with the addition of 19 new Clubs.

Learn more here: http://toyota.us/1hiErUI

Courtesy of Toyota Media

To Save on Gas, Stop Driving Aggressively

Whoa, slow down there lead-foot! Turns out the best gas-saving strategy relies entirely on you and your driving style. Moderate drivers will save more on gas than aggressive drivers; and, the difference isn’t minor. Edmunds.com ran tests under real-world conditions and found savings on gas can be as high as 37% – just by taming your inner speed demon.

There’s no need to drastically alter your driving personality either. You don’t need to morph from a jackrabbit into a tortoise. Instead, just follow a few simple tips to become a more moderate driver and watch the savings add up. Ready...set...SLOW!

• Stop gunning it on every green light. The stoplight is not a pole position; there are no prizes awarded to the car quickest off the line. And, besides only really being the first person to the next red light, fast starts and hard braking can increase fuel consumption by as much as 40% – while only reducing travel time by 4%. That just doesn’t add up.

• Accelerate smoothly, and maintain a steady pace. In city driving, nearly 50% of the energy needed to power your car goes to acceleration. If you slowed your 0-to-60-mph acceleration time down from your current 10 seconds to a more normal city pace of 15 seconds, you'll feel the savings immediately.

• Drive the speed limit. Besides safety, there are fuel consumption reasons to obey the law. Fuel efficiency starts dropping at around 60 mph and plummets drastically over 65 mph. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, you can assume that each 5 mph you drive over 60 mph is like paying an additional $0.21 per gallon of gas (at $3.00 per gallon).

• Use cruise control on long stretches of highway driving. Cruise control not only saves fuel by helping your vehicle maintain a steady speed, it will also smooth out the driver's accelerator input preventing nervous "surging."
Additionally, it will allow the driver take the “long view” of the road rather than reacting to every minor change in the traffic around them. *In hilly terrain, it is best to turn off the cruise control.

Following these simple tips will help you to burn less fuel – which is better for the environment as well as your pocketbook. As a nice byproduct, you may also end up with less stress on the road and increased safety for yourself and others.